Features I genuinely enjoy in Halo 5

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

  • A random map/mode selection system
    This is hands down the best feature in Halo 5 (in my opinion, of course). This may seem odd to some, so I’ll try my best to explain what I mean by this. I’ve always preferred objective gametypes to pure slaying, mindlessly killing games. It is the reason I love the multiplayer in this franchise. In fact, my best memories in first person shooters come from CTF in Gephyrophobia (Halo PC), Multiflag in Waterworks (Halo 2:MCC) and Headhunter in Zealot (Reach, Multi-Team). Here’s the thing, though. I still don’t know the reason as to why voting was implemented in Reach, but it simply destroyed variety. Every time I go back to that game I am forced to play Team Slayer, mainly because the Team Objective playlist is pretty much dead and Slayer it is the only thing ever voted for in the remaining “multi-mode” playlists, such as BTB, Anniversary Classic and Multi-Team.
    The fact that 343 decided to go back to the Halo 2 way of handling map/mode selection is the reason I keep coming back to Halo 5, in all honesty. Whenever I hop in BTB, TA or even Skirmish, at the very least I know that I have a solid chance of playing CTF or Strongholds, instead of the disastrous, ridiculous amount of slayer matches that I had to play in MCC/Reach because it’s the only thing the playerbase wants.

  • The gameplay
    Now, I have to say that the internal mechanics of Halo CE and 2 , in my opinion, are better than Halo 5’s. However, I think it is the strongest out of Halo 3, Reach and 4. The lack of random bullet spread (Halo 3’s BR), bloom (basically the entirety of Halo Reach), and “noobified” features from Halo 4 (no descoping, objective indicators are always on for both teams, no friendly fire at launch, etc.) are always welcome in my eyes. Sprinting now has consequences, thus reducing (in a smaller scale) the sheer amount of fleeing seen in Reach/4. Ground pounding requires “leading” and “charging” the ability to some extent, making it rewarding when you manage to kill an opponent with it. Stabilizers, thrusters and sliding have contributed to the numerous trick jumps in Halo 5 (most notably in Plaza and Fathom). Spartan charge is pretty bad, though, but that’s about it.
    It would be great to see 343 go back to the original gameplay in a future Halo game, but I wouldn’t be mad if this one were kept instead and some small tweaks were made.

  • Forge
    There’s not much to say about it. Objectively, it is the best editing feature Halo has ever gotten in consoles. Sure, it’s not even close to being as accessible as the original forge in Halo 3 was, but the learning curve required to learn to use it is definitely worth it (obviously, I’m not a forger, and I only use the feature ‘casually’, but you just have to take a look at the Damnation remake in Halo 5 to see how much of a powerful resource it is)

  • The “competitiveness” of Halo 5

When I bought Halo 5 back in mid-July, I was eager to test out the new ranking system in the game, and was surprised at the outcome. I started playing Halo 3 in matchmaking kind of late, back in 2012 (this isn’t my first account, by the way), and the only playlist I ever played on competitively was Lone Wolves, both because the achievements required it and because it also had Oddball/KotH. This was the only experience in ranked play I ever had in Halo, so to see that the ranking system in Halo 5 not only worked (I know this is controversial, but it definitely is better than Trueskill boosting) but also made players push towards the objective, something I almost never saw in Halo 3’ LW, was pretty welcoming. It’s a shame the playlists are filled to the brim with smurf accounts, though, and 343 has to figure a way to sort this out in Halo 6, as it pushes many newcomers away from the ranked playlists

  • Flag/Bomb indicators after getting hit

This one is minor, but a gamechanger in solo play. I don’t like to use my mic for obvious reasons that the community has already stated, so to see that I can “tell” my teammates where the enemy is simply by shooting at the carrier is great. Also, I know that these indicators are pretty much useless in high level play due to the fact that the teams are always communicating, so it really is more of a feature intended for solo queing players, and I love it.

  • Actually good starting weapons

The last time Halo features all-around balanced and competitively viable weapons was in Halo CE (2001). 14 years later, we have once again powerful Magnums and Assault Rifles. The pistol may not be as easy to use as the BR, but it is really strong at the hands of a skilled player.

  • The REQ weapons (not the system, just the variations)

I rarely play warzone, so I only really get to use these weapons in custom games or Super Fiesta and I have to say that they make up for some good casual matches. Some of the variations are also surprisingly useful in BTB, where a gunfighter magnum is in Basin and a tactical magnum is in Boulevard, but that’s about everything I have to say about these weapons.I only posted what makes Halo 5 stand out for me, so there may be features that I’m missing. As always, tell me if you agree/disagree with something.

2

I pretty much have to agree with everything except for the competitiveness. I still feel that 343i focuses a little too much on that (keep in mind, I’m a very casual player) but I do understand that the competitive scene is a big part of the Halo community.

3

I like how you can change seats in the Warhog lol

4

It’s the motion mechanics (extracted from your section on gameplay), of anything on your list, that I still find troublesome. There are so many of them, and the arcane rules for how they interact with each other on the battlefield makes for an experience where I often cannot understand why or how a certain outcome was produced. To me that’s not a good gaming experience. If you can’t understand why you died then you can’t learn how to prevent it the next time. And if you can’t understand why you got the kill then you can’t reasonably expect to reproduce the effect. It makes the game feel even more like Rock Scissors Paper than it already is. Somebody once said, “Simpler is generally better,” and I think they may have been right.

I’m a little surprised that you made absolutely no mention of Warzone whatsoever, except through an oblique reference to the req system. For me Warzone would be second on the list right behind forge. Although even forge isn’t yet perfect.

5

> 2533274873843883;4:
> It’s the motion mechanics (extracted from your section on gameplay), of anything on your list, that I still find troublesome. There are so many of them, and the arcane rules for how they interact with each other on the battlefield makes for an experience where I often cannot understand why or how a certain outcome was produced. To me that’s not a good gaming experience. If you can’t understand why you died then you can’t learn how to prevent it the next time. And if you can’t understand why you got the kill then you can’t reasonably expect to reproduce the effect. It makes the game feel even more like Rock Scissors Paper than it already is. Somebody once said, “Simpler is generally better,” and I think they may have been right.
>
> I’m a little surprised that you made absolutely no mention of Warzone whatsoever, except through an oblique reference to the req system. For me Warzone would be second on the list right behind forge. Although even forge isn’t yet perfect.

Well, I don’t like Warzone. The only thing I enjoy are the weapons designed for that mode, nothing else. Equal starts are the foundations of Halo, IMO, and Warzone has, in my opinion, the ‘random and completely lopsided’ elements present in the Call of Duty series (some weapons are clearly better than others, The Answer has an extremely low TTK, the Nornfang is a hit kill even in a body shot and so on). However, they are fun when thrown into a match where every player has the same chances of getting weapon ‘x’, where you don’t have to rely on a microtransaction system whatsover to have said weapon.

Now, for the movement mechanics, I can see where you’re coming from. It still bugs me how Spartan charge made it into the final game, mainly because it has huge tracking and curving capabilities. It is almost always a guaranteed kill unless the user somehow messes up (it’s similar to the Power Drain equipment in Halo 3). I honestly think it is the only part of Halo 5’s mechanics that don’t integrate well in the battlefield, as every other element, such as sliding, GPing and sprinting leads to getting a fair kill. Perhaps the issue you have with the gameplay is how some players are able to use a stabilizers/sprint combo to reach an unintended position, thus making it harder to dodge incoming attacks from said opponent.

Like I said, I very much enjoy Halo 5’s core mechanics, but I would definitely prefer to see the classic style back, mainly because they relied on the “simple, yet hard to master” saying (button glitches, the M6D, the spawn system in CE …)

6

I agree, but I’d love a veto system (not a voting system). I’d also like if they kept ranked and social stats separate.

7

The issues with Halo 5 are all small things. The problem is, there seems to be a whole lot of small things :confused:

8

I love the balance of the arena weapons. The req weapons are super fun, and are balanced in their own ways. I don’t hate them, but what I’m trying to say doesn’t quite suit them.

By this I mean, that I honestly think I can kill someone with a BR, using any weapon I pick up on the map. They all fit their niches so well, that if you know the advantage they have, and you know how to take use that advantage, there are no useless weapons.

9

> 2533274857209865;7:
> The issues with Halo 5 are all small things. The problem is, there seems to be a whole lot of small things :confused:

Minus the whole Getting disconnected from the server which is happening more and more to people who never had issues before (myself being one now)

10

> The “competitiveness” of Halo 5

There I have to disagree with you. To me Halo 5 is too competitive and sometimes I want to play casually in social playlists only to find out a lot of competitive players/sweaties/tryhards whatever…are also in social playlists giving casual players little to no room in Halo 5 (excluding Warzone).

11

> 2533275075442884;1:
> - A random map/mode selection system
> This is hands down the best feature in Halo 5 (in my opinion, of course). This may seem odd to some, so I’ll try my best to explain what I mean by this. I’ve always preferred objective gametypes to pure slaying, mindlessly killing games. It is the reason I love the multiplayer in this franchise. In fact, my best memories in first person shooters come from CTF in Gephyrophobia (Halo PC), Multiflag in Waterworks (Halo 2:MCC) and Headhunter in Zealot (Reach, Multi-Team). Here’s the thing, though. I still don’t know the reason as to why voting was implemented in Reach, but it simply destroyed variety. Every time I go back to that game I am forced to play Team Slayer, mainly because the Team Objective playlist is pretty much dead and Slayer it is the only thing ever voted for in the remaining “multi-mode” playlists, such as BTB, Anniversary Classic and Multi-Team.
> The fact that 343 decided to go back to the Halo 2 way of handling map/mode selection is the reason I keep coming back to Halo 5, in all honesty. Whenever I hop in BTB, TA or even Skirmish, at the very least I know that I have a solid chance of playing CTF or Strongholds, instead of the disastrous, ridiculous amount of slayer matches that I had to play in MCC/Reach because it’s the only thing the playerbase wants.
>
> - The gameplayNow, I have to say that the internal mechanics of Halo CE and 2 , in my opinion, are better than Halo 5’s. However, I think it is the strongest out of Halo 3, Reach and 4. The lack of random bullet spread (Halo 3’s BR), bloom (basically the entirety of Halo Reach), and “noobified” features from Halo 4 (no descoping, objective indicators are always on for both teams, no friendly fire at launch, etc.) are always welcome in my eyes. Sprinting now has consequences, thus reducing (in a smaller scale) the sheer amount of fleeing seen in Reach/4. Ground pounding requires “leading” and “charging” the ability to some extent, making it rewarding when you manage to kill an opponent with it. Stabilizers, thrusters and sliding have contributed to the numerous trick jumps in Halo 5 (most notably in Plaza and Fathom). Spartan charge is pretty bad, though, but that’s about it.
> It would be great to see 343 go back to the original gameplay in a future Halo game, but I wouldn’t be mad if this one were kept instead and some small tweaks were made.
>
> - ForgeThere’s not much to say about it. Objectively, it is the best editing feature Halo has ever gotten in consoles. Sure, it’s not even close to being as accessible as the original forge in Halo 3 was, but the learning curve required to learn to use it is definitely worth it (obviously, I’m not a forger, and I only use the feature ‘casually’, but you just have to take a look at the Damnation remake in Halo 5 to see how much of a powerful resource it is)
>
> - The “competitiveness” of Halo 5When I bought Halo 5 back in mid-July, I was eager to test out the new ranking system in the game, and was surprised at the outcome. I started playing Halo 3 in matchmaking kind of late, back in 2012 (this isn’t my first account, by the way), and the only playlist I ever played on competitively was Lone Wolves, both because the achievements required it and because it also had Oddball/KotH. This was the only experience in ranked play I ever had in Halo, so to see that the ranking system in Halo 5 not only worked (I know this is controversial, but it definitely is better than Trueskill boosting) but also made players push towards the objective, something I almost never saw in Halo 3’ LW, was pretty welcoming. It’s a shame the playlists are filled to the brim with smurf accounts, though, and 343 has to figure a way to sort this out in Halo 6, as it pushes many newcomers away from the ranked playlists
>
> - Flag/Bomb indicators after getting hitThis one is minor, but a gamechanger in solo play. I don’t like to use my mic for obvious reasons that the community has already stated, so to see that I can “tell” my teammates where the enemy is simply by shooting at the carrier is great. Also, I know that these indicators are pretty much useless in high level play due to the fact that the teams are always communicating, so it really is more of a feature intended for solo queing players, and I love it.
>
> - Actually good starting weaponsThe last thime Halo features all-around balanced and competitively viable weapons was in Halo CE (2001). 14 years later, we have once again powerful Magnums and Assault Rifles. The pistol may not be as easy to use as the BR, but it is really strong at the hands of a skilled player.
>
> - __The REQ weapons (not the system, just the variations)__I rarely play warzone, so I only really get to use these weapons in custom games or Super Fiesta and I have to say that they make up for some good casual matches. Some of the variations are also surprisingly useful in BTB, where a gunfighter magnum is in Basin and a tactical magnum is in Boulevard, but that’s about everything I have to say about these weapons.I only posted what makes Halo 5 stand out for me, so there may be features that I’m missing. As always, tell me if you agree/disagree with something.

i completely agree

12

> 2533275008181400;10:
> > The “competitiveness” of Halo 5
>
> There I have to disagree with you. To me Halo 5 is too competitive and sometimes I want to play casually in social playlists only to find out a lot of competitive players/sweaties/tryhards whatever…are also in social playlists giving casual players little to no room in Halo 5 (excluding Warzone).

This is something that confuses me. I’d just like a little more detail on what exactly “playing casually” means. Not looking down on anyone with this opinion; I’d just like some elaboration on exactly what that means. I mean, I don’t get paid for playing. Doesn’t that mean I’m playing casually? Can’t I play casually and still try to do good/win?

I’m suspecting this is more of a team balance issue? Maybe playing with everyone of the same skill would make it seem more “casual”? Or are you just trying to get into a game and do silly things? Custom Games seems like a good spot for that, now that we have a browser.

13

> 2533274815533909;3:
> I like how you can change seats in the Warhog lol

So true. It makes a Warthog viable to a solo person. You can do so much damage just on your own.

14

The focus on the competitive aspect of the game is completely redundant without a fair and stable matchmaking system.

Dedicated servers -Yes

No choice as to which servers you get placed - No

Whats the point?

15

Also, Halo assassinations are one of the things I really enjoy in Halo.

16

I love the competitiveness, the tight controls, the sound made from a headshot, the req system, the gameplay, the graphics, the rank system, and the way Halo 5 has inspired other players to become better.

17

> 2533274880684891;14:
> The focus on the competitive aspect of the game is completely redundant without a fair and stable matchmaking system.
>
> Dedicated servers -Yes
>
> No choice as to which servers you get placed - No
>
> Whats the point?

For what it is, I think that the ranking system is pretty good at its core. The divisions help sort out players of similar skill and the placement matches do a good job at getting the player to a specific level. However, it doesn’t function as intended mainly due to the lack of a sufficient population for a system like this and because smurf accounts are allowed with zero restrictions/consequences whatsover. They degenerate what would be a great, competitive playlist (like Team Arena).

To be perfectly honest, I think it operates better than the way Trueskill was implemented in Halo 3. The degree of uncertanty of the player’s skill level (sigma) was the key to boosting and deranking accounts. Basically, the more you played, the harder it was for you to climb up in the ranks. Going back to the Halo 3 scenario, let’s say that you, a player that has already gone through ~100 games in Doubles, wins 30 matches in a row. If a newcomer ends up winning his first 30 games in a row, he/she is going to have a higher ranking variation (“ΔRank”: Final-Inicial ranking) than the former. That’s because the degree of uncertainty of the latter’s skill is still high, thus allowing the infamous “9 matches to 50” boosting scenarios to occur.
You most likely already knew this stuff, but I think that it would be better to compare H3’s system to H5’s just so that those inexperienced with them could get a simple understanding of what makes them so different.

Regarding the server selection, yes, they could’ve been handled way better, so I have to agree with you there. It’s a shame too, because it effectively mitigates the entire last paragraph I wrote since many players can’t even find a game. I don’t have an issue with this since I live in South America, but I know for a fact that many international players have been driven away from Halo 5 due to the poor handling of the datacenters. Hopefully 343 and Microsoft can take a look at this in the future, starting with Halo Wars 2.

18

> 2533274797328974;12:
> > 2533275008181400;10:
> > > The “competitiveness” of Halo 5
>
> This is something that confuses me. I’d just like a little more detail on what exactly “playing casually” means. Not looking down on anyone with this opinion; I’d just like some elaboration on exactly what that means. I mean, I don’t get paid for playing. Doesn’t that mean I’m playing casually? Can’t I play casually and still try to do good/win?
>
> I’m suspecting this is more of a team balance issue? Maybe playing with everyone of the same skill would make it seem more “casual”? Or are you just trying to get into a game and do silly things? Custom Games seems like a good spot for that, now that we have a browser.

My point of view of playing “casually” is basically me sitting down and relaxing not even trying your best and not worrying about your stats not necessarily playing around or doing stupid things.

19

> 2533274873843883;4:
> It’s the motion mechanics (extracted from your section on gameplay), of anything on your list, that I still find troublesome. There are so many of them, and the arcane rules for how they interact with each other on the battlefield makes for an experience where I often cannot understand why or how a certain outcome was produced. To me that’s not a good gaming experience. If you can’t understand why you died then you can’t learn how to prevent it the next time. And if you can’t understand why you got the kill then you can’t reasonably expect to reproduce the effect. It makes the game feel even more like Rock Scissors Paper than it already is. Somebody once said, “Simpler is generally better,” and I think they may have been right.
>
> I’m a little surprised that you made absolutely no mention of Warzone whatsoever, except through an oblique reference to the req system. For me Warzone would be second on the list right behind forge. Although even forge isn’t yet perfect.

I want them to keep basic thrusting and ground pound, everything else I wouldn’t have a problem if it left.